Fourteen years ago, Saqib Saleem and Saba Azad debuted with Y-Films’ Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. I’m sure neither the actors nor the fans of that film, including yours truly, ever imagined seeing these two actors together in something like Zee 5’s Crime Beat, all these years later. I don’t have to tell you that the latest show is drastically different from Saleem and Azad’s debut film in every aspect. It is still a nice, perhaps unplanned, reunion. But if I have to point out the things that actively hurt Crime Beat, then the romance between Saleem and Azad’s characters should be at the top of the list. There is a professional rivalry angle at play as well, which works out.

Crime Beat, of course, is an eight-episode adaptation of author Somnath Batabyal’s 2013 novel, The Price You Pay. I got curious about the source material after getting this assignment,...